Mail-delivering apparatus.



J. T. HOWARD. MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED MAB. 19,1909. 939,259.

l Witnesses Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. T. HOWARD. MAIL DELIVERING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19,1909. 939,259. Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

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. l wwmwow W @722/272 zfi owartz NERS. wAsHmamn UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN THOMAS HOWARD, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.

- MAIL-DELIVERING APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN THOMAS Howann, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Bend, in the county of St. Joseph and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail- Delivering Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to mail bag delivery apparatus, and has specially in view a bag holder carried by a car which is automatically operated by means of a stationary bar or lever arranged adjacent to a track to cause the holder to drop the bag so that the same may fall upon a chute or runway.

In carrying out the objects of the invention generally stated above it will, of course, be understood that the same is susceptible of changes in details and structural arrange ments, one referred and practical embodiment of whlch is shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved bag delivery apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the bag holder. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the trip lever for releasing a bag from the holder.

Referring to said drawings by numerals, 1 designates a car, the door frame 2 of which carries an outstanding angular arm 3 at one side which engages with a socket 4 carried by a horizontally disposed bar 5 one end of which normally projects within the car and is provided with an upstanding and preferably hollow angular portion 5 into which a lever 6 projects, said lever being pivotally mounted in said hollow portion adjacent to the upper edge thereof, and having its lower end bifurcated as indicated at 7 and engaging with a hook-shaped end 8 of an operating rod 9 which projects through the front portion 10 of the angular end of the bar and extends to the forward end of said bar and is connected with one end of a trip lever 11 having a pivotal connection with a forwardly projecting reduced extension 12 of the bar 1. The top edge of the forwardly projecting extension 12 is in the same plane with the top edge of the bar, but its under side is of a tapering curved formation and merges into the bar, as indicated at 13 to provide clearance space for a bagsupporting lever 14 which is pivotally con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 19, 1909.

Patented Nov. 9, 1909.

Serial No. 484,388.

nected with a pivot ear 15 carried by the bottom edge of the bar 1.

The trip lever 11 is provided with two widened transversely extending shoulders 16 and 17. The shoulder 16 is located adjacent to the pivotal connection of the lever with the extension 12 and serves as a stop to limit the inward swlng of said lever. The shoulder 17 serves as a rest for the free end of the bag-supporting lever 14. Said lever 11 is normally held in a bag supporting position by means of aspring 18 which connects the same with the extension 12.

The lever 6 projects above the angular end of the bar 1 and has a cable 19 fastened thereto which extends over a grooved roller 20 mounted in brackets 21 carried by the door-frame, and thence over an idle pulley 22 mounted in a bracket 23 carried by the outside of the car and then over a pulley 24: from which it is extended to and connect ed with the lower end of a lever 25 pivotally mounted on a bracket 26. A laterally extending wing 25 is carried by the upper end of the lever 25. Said lever 25 is nor mally held in a vertical position by means of a spring 27 having one end connected to its bottom end and its other end suitably connected with the side of the car.

To place a bag within the holder, the bar may be turned on its angular arm 3 to bring the bag-holding end adjacent to or within the doorway of the car, and the trip lever is then released from the bag-supporting lever, which causes the latter to drop by gravity. The bag is then placed below the extension 12, and the supporting lever is returned to its supporting position and the rest shoulder of the trip lever is engaged with the end thereof. The bar may then be swung outwardly to a position substantially as is shown in Fig. 1.

The bag is automatically released from the end of the bar by means of a horizontally extending bar 28 carried by a standard 29, located adjacent to a track. The bar 28 projects into the path of movement of the lateral wing 25 carried by the vertically disposed rocking lever 25, and when said arm contacts with said wing, the lever 25 will be rocked to exert a pull on the operating cable 19 which pull is communicated to the rod 9 through the lever 6, and thence through the lever 11, which is rocked to remove its supporting shoulder from beneath the end of the bag-holding lever 14, causing the latter to drop and permit the bag to fall upon an upwardly inclined chute or runway 30, located adjacent to the standard 29.

The chute or runway 30 may be provided with a flange 31 at its edge adjacent to the track to prevent the suction of the passing train drawing the bag onto the tracks where it might be damaged by the cars.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the presentdevice is one that is simple and automatic in its operation, and owing to the described connections between the releasing levers of the bag holder, it will be seen that the bag will be immediately released when the arm of the standard contacts with the wing of the vertically disposed lever ot the car.

hat I claim as my invention is 1. A mail bag delivery apparatus comprising a bar having a pivotal connection with a doorway of a .car, a bag-supporting lever pivotally connected to one end of said bar, a trip lever for holding the supporting lever in a bag holding position, a rocking lever carried by the car, a cable connection between the trip lever and the rocking lever,-

and means for actuating the rocking lever to cause the trip lever to release the bag-supporting lever.

2. A mail bag delivery apparatus com prising a bar having a pivotalconnection with a doorway of a car, a bag-supporting lever carried by one end of said bar, trip lever also carried by said bar and normally holding the supporting lever in a bag-holding position, a lever carried by the inner end of the bar, a rod connection between the trip lever and the lever at the inner end of the bar, a rocking lever carried by the car, a conneetion between the rocking lever and the lever at the inner end of the bar, and means for actuating the rocking lever to cause its connections to release the trip lever from its supporting lever holding position.

3. A mail bag delivery apparatus com prising a bar having an intermediate hinge connection with the doorway of a car, a bag supporting lever carried by one end of the bar, a trip lever supported by the bar adjacent to the supporting lever and provided with a rest shoulder for holding the sup porting lever in a bag-holding position, a rocking lever carried by the car, a connection between the rocking lever and the trip lever, and means for actuating the rocking lever to remove the trip lever from its bag lever sup porting position.

1. A mail bag delivery apparatus comprising an angular arm carried by a doorway of a car, a delivery bar provided with an intermediate socket with which said arm engages, said lever being provided with a cut-away forwardly extending portion, a trip lever pivotally connected with the end of said extending portion, a bag-supporting lever engaged with the bottom edge of the bar and held in a bag-holding position by the trip lever, a vertically disposed lever carried by the other end of said bar, a rocking lever carried by the exterior of the car and having a cable connection with the vertically disposed lever, a rod connection between the last mentioned lever and the trip lever, and means for actuating the rocking lever to exert a pull upon the cable and the rod to cause the trip lever to release the bag-supporting lever.

5. A mail bag delivery apparatus comprising a bar having a pivotal connection with the doorway of a car and adapted to be swung on its pivot with one end projecting exteriorly of the car, the exterior end of the bar being cut-away on its bottom portion, a trip lever pivotally connected to the upper edge of the exterior end of the bar, said trip lever being provided with an intermediate stop shoulder for contacting with the bar to limit the movement of said lever in one direction and also provided with a bottom rest,

portion of the bar and normally held in a bag-holding position by the rest shoulder of the trip lever, a vertically disposed lever carried by the inner end of the bar, a rod connection between the trip lever and the vertically disposed lever, a rocking lever carried by the car, a cable connection between the rocking lever and the vertically disposed lever, and means for actuating the rocking lever to impart a pull on the cable and rod to cause the trip lever to release the bag-supporting lever.

6. A mail bag delivery apparatus comprising a delivery bar hinged to a doorway of a car, bag supporting levers carried by one end of said delivery bar, a rocking lever, carried by the car and provided with a laterally extending wing, a standard provided with an arm adapted to contact with said wing to actuate the rocking lever and thereby release the bag supporting levers, and a chute for receiving the released bags.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN THOMAS HOWARD. lVitnesses GEORGE POWELL, 1V. H. GREssER. 

